The Phoenix
by BlueBoxPony
Summary: This is a spin-off of FMA, and I'm not good with summaries. So why don't you go ahead and read it for yourself? Enjoy! (Btw, I will be writing more chapters soon)
1. Prologue

The girl sat down and took a long, deep breath._ Here I go_, she thought. The girl lowered her hands to the complex array on the floor.

_Water: 35 l. Carbon: 20 kg. Ammonia: 4 l. Lime: 1.5 kg. Phosphorus: 800 g. Salt: 250 g. Saltpeter: 100 g. Sulfur: 80 g. Fluorine 7.5 g. Iron 5 g. Silicon 3 g. Trace amounts of 15 other elements. And my blood for the exchange. It's all there._

_So what could possibly go wrong, right?_

The array started to glow blue. The girl, now completely focused on the task at hand, closed her eyes in concentration. _Nothing can go wrong. Nothing can go wrong. Nothing can go wrong. Soon I'll have her back. And it can be like before. Like the good days, before it all happened._

Suddenly, a flash of purple light appeared. Something _was_ wrong.

_What's happening_? _What is this?_ _What the hell is goin—_

Pain racked the girl's body. Every part of her ached. As she fell to the floor, her screams echoed throughout the night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Short chapter 1 heh heh I know. But I still hope you guys enjoy.**

Chapter 1 (1 year after FMA: Conquerer of Shamballa):

Edward Elric was driving down a dim, forest road at night. He had taken a wrong turn, and was completely lost.

"Where the hell am I?", Edward muttered to himself.

As he drove on, he began to wonder if he should turn back, or call for help. Just as he thought things couldn't get any worse, the car ran over a sharp stone, and the tire deflated.

"Ugh, seriously? Great, that's just what I needed. A god damn flat tire. Mmm hmm."

Ed got out of the car. _There's no point in just sitting here, right?_

He began to walk further up the road, in the hopes of finding help.

After walking for a while, he came across an old castle. It looked familiar. _Of course_, he

thought. _It's only been a year since the last time I was here._

He could still recall everything. The dragon. Envy. Hohenheim. The mysterious transmutation circle. The fair. The Thule society. And Alphonse. How much it hurt to be separated. But that didn't matter anymore. They were together, and Al had his body back. That was all that counted in the end. But Ed couldn't help but think about all the people he had left behind. Teacher. Winry. Granny. Mrs. Hughes and little Elicia.

_Will I ever see them again? Maybe. I've already met some of their doubles from this world but….it isn't the same. I miss them._

He walked up to the castle and ran his hand down the cold, stone exterior. _Leaving them behind was the price I had to pay to have Al back. Equivalent Exchange. Besides, regretting the past only leads to worse things in the future. I made my decision to stay here and live a new life at the cost of Amestris and the people there. I won't go back on that._

He turned around and slowly started to walk back, his head buried in thought. After following the road for a long time, he looked up to see if he had gotten lost and left his car somewhere. All Edward saw was the blinding flash of headlights in his eyes. Stunned by the brilliance of the lights, he stood there in shock. In a matter of seconds, he finally managed to say something.

"Wait st—"

But it was already too late.


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm really sorry about the short chapters and cliff hangers. It's just how I write I guess.**

**I'll do my best to write a chapter or two a day to make up for it. Maybe I'll even go for a longer chapter. I'll just have to see. Thanks and read on!**

Chapter 2:

Edward opened his eyes. He found himself in a vast white expanse, that seemed to go on forever. _Where the hell am I?, _he thought.

Turning around, he was shocked to see an all too familiar scene. _The Gate. But if that's there then that means—_

"Hello, Edward."

The voice sent shivers up his spine. He'd heard that voice so many times. He turned to face the speaker.

"Truth."

"Yes."

"Why am I here?"

"Because you died, Edward Elric. I'm only here to see you off."

"Why?"

Truth thought for a moment before he spoke again.

"Because among the many people who have visited me before, you are one of my favorites. But that alone isn't going to bring you back to life."

Something snapped to life in Edward's mind. Only then did it register properly. He, Edward Elric, was….dead.

"But…..but what about Al! I can't just leave him! He doesn't even know what happened! I have to go back and tell him! Please!" Ed couldn't bring himself to imagine his brother's grief stricken face upon hearing the news of his death.

Truth just stared blankly back at him. After what seemed like an eternity for Ed, Truth spoke again.

"What if I had you do a favor for me? Maybe that could serve as your toll and I'd give you a second chance."

"What?!", Ed asked frantically.

All Truth did was grin.


	4. Chapter 4

**New character alert! This is where it's kind of a spinoff. I have to explain to you who the new character is, so I have to write this. It's longer, so I hope I don't bore you heh heh. Eh. Whatever. Please read and enjoy.**

Chapter 3:

For as long as the girl could remember, it had always been herself and her mother. She had grown up in a little town called Geymep **(Yes a real town on the map of Amestris. I did some hardcore research. :3) **to the West.

Geymep was a small, peaceful, country town. It was filled with meadows and farms, and everywhere you looked there was nature. She and her mother had always done things together. They'd walk the vast, green fields, play in the cold, clear streams, and breathe the fresh air.

The girl's name was Emma, and she was very close to her mother. There was nothing that could ever separate mother an daughter. Nothing. At least, not until the day the girl's mother became very sick.

Emma couldn't do anything but watch as her mother suffered. Her condition worsened, and the doctor's that came to the house periodically couldn't do anything.

The town of Geymep was cheery despite the shadow hanging over Emma's home. Geymep was famous for it's baked goods, and held a fair every year for it. That was where Emma met a man by the name of Hohenheim. Emma, desperate to save her mother's life learned of a strange ability called "alchemy" from him. She begged him to teach her about alchemy so she could save her mother, and he agreed.

Months passed, and as the girl's mother was dying, Emma was gaining knowledge of alchemy. She was one would call a "child prodigy". Even at the age of ten, she was a genius. She could memorize copious amounts of information at a time, and was an expert at strategical planning. Math and memorizing chemical compounds was no problem for her.

Eventually, Hohenheim had to leave. Emma was sad, but she new she had kept him long enough. But tragedy soon after Hohenheim left. The girl's mother died.

Even with all her knowledge of alchemy, she couldn't save her mother. She sat depressed for days in her empty home, where no light would ever shine again.

In her depressed state, something occurred to her. Something buried deep in the back of her mind.

The fundamental rule of alchemy is Equivalent Exchange. You can't get without giving. But parallel to this rule, are two laws. You cannot use alchemy to create gold. And the last, and perhaps the most intriguing. You cannot bring a human back to life. In other words, human transmutation. Upon reaching this thought, the girl smiled. First, she would study as much about alchemy as she could. She would travel across all of Amestris to find her teachers if she had to/Then, she'd get her mother back, no matter what. Even if it meant breaking one of the most important rules of alchemy.

She was going to bring her mother back to life.


	5. Chapter 5

p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"Chapter 5:/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"Edward woke up in an alley. emWhere am I/em, he thought. /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"emHow did I get here?/em/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"Getting up, he realized where he was. emCentral/em. emAnd that must mean Mustang's around/em./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"Only then did Edward finally realize how much he really missed the Colonel. If he still was a I can't believe I'm actually looking forward to seeing that bastard's face again./em/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"He exited the alley and entered the street. It was bustling with people. Cars were everywhere. Central Command was full of energy. emSame old Central/em, Edward thought, as he walked around a corner./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"Suddenly, Edward remembered something. emThat's right! I have to get back to Al! That bastard Truth, making me do something for him. But it's my only shot at getting back to Al. Maybe Mustang can help./em/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" Edward started to run. His eyes shone with determination. emI'm almost there. Mustang, you better have something for me, or you're gonna get it!/em/p 


	6. Chapter 6

p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"strongIt's a bit longer this time. Well, it looks like it anyway. I thoroughly enjoyed writing this chapter. Enjoy! :D/strong/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"Chapter 6:/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"Colonel Roy Mustang had just redeemed his rank as Colonel after the whole "parallel universe" incident, and was having some regrets. emAll this paperwork. At least I didn't have to do that as an enlisted man./em Mustang touched his eyepatch. emWell/em,em I could always use my damaged eye to my advantage. I could just say I'm disabled and they'd make Hawkeye do my paperwork for me./em/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"Nevertheless, Mustang enjoyed being back with his team again. Fuery, Hawkeye, Breda, Falman and Havoc could be a lot of fun if you gave them the chance./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"But something was different. There was something missing, something that couldn't be replaced. emOf course, /emMustang It's been so quiet. So quiet ever since Fullmetal's been gone. Ha. I never thought I'd miss the kid. But I shouldn't worry about him. I'm sure he's living a great life with Alphonse./em/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"But Mustang couldn't help but wonder what kind of life Ed was living now. emHe's a strong kid. He'll be fine. In the end, He never got his body completely back, but I know he can manage himself. He is the Fullmetal alchemist, after all./em/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
hr /  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"Edward stood at the entrance to Central Command, debating whether he should go in or not. emHow will they react when I come in? And how am I gonna get past security without suspicion? What the hell am I gonna do?/em/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"Ed stopped himself before he could take the questioning any further. emGet ahold of yourself Ed! Remember, this is for Al! What I should be working on right now is getting Al back!/em/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"Taking a deep breath, he entered the Central Command building. Seeing a secretary he said,/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px""Hi. My name is Edward Elric, and I'm here to see Colonel Mustang."/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
hr /  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"Colonel Mustang was finishing up some of his paperwork when the first floor secretary came into his office./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px""Colonel Mustang, sir. There's someone here to see you."/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"Mustang looked up, a bit surprised to have a visitor./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px""What is their name?"/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"The secretary took a sheet of paper out and read the name the visitor had written on it./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px""Well, they say their name is…..Edward Elric, sir."/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"Mustang was silent for several minutes./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"emIs it really Edward? No, it can't be. I made sure this side of the portal was sealed. That's impossible. The Edward outside must be a fake. But why would anyone want to steal Edward's identity? And why would they want to see me of all people?/em/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"Finally, Mustang gave his answer./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px""Get Fuery, Hawkeye, Breda, Havoc and Falman for me right now. And send my visitor in. Wouldn't want to keep a guest waiting."/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"The side of Mustang's mouth curved upwards into a smile. The only way to tell if this was the real Edward Elric was if he decided with this mysterious visitor in front of him./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"emFullmetal. /em/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;"emCan it really be you?/em/p 


	7. Chapter 7

**I'll be away for a day or two so I won't be able to update the fic. But don't worry, I'll be back real soon. Read on and have fun...I guess.**

Chapter 7:

After his men were assembled, Mustang explained everything to them.

"So the guy who's asking to see you says he's Ed?", asked Hawkeye.

"Yeah. But I need you guys here to help me decide if he's a fake." replied Mustang.

Fuery, Breda, and Havoc just stood thinking. Finally, Fuery spoke up. "Why would he be a fake? I don't know of anyone who might want to steal his identity."

Breda spoke. "Well, it could always some idiot who wants to show up Central Command, right?"

Havoc agreed with him. "Yeah. It's better to be safe."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" said Mustang.

It was the first floor secretary.

"Can I let your visitor in?"

"Yes, please." answered Mustang.

The secretary brought the visitor in and left, and everyone turned anxiously to the door.

* * *

Ed took a shaky breath._ That's it. Just breath. Everything will be fine._

He took his time, taking one step after another. _Just focus on walking. Don't worry. If anyone can point me in the right direction to getting Al back, it's Mustang._

Ed stepped through the door, his eyes trained on his feet. _I made it. But what do I do now?_

Finally, he ripped his eyes away from the floor and looked up. He met eyes with a man with dark hair and one black eye, the other covered by an eyepatch.

The man's face morphed into one of shock. "E—Edward?"

"I'm home." said Ed.

* * *

After several minutes of silence, Ed recognized Mustang's team was also in the room.

"Hi everyone. Fuery, Havoc, Breda, Hawkeye. I—I'm back. Heh."

Everyone just stared wide-eyed at him. Finally, Hawkeye brought herself to speak.

"Welcome…back."

Ed just smiled sheepishly.

Eventually, the rest of the team managed to mumble a "hi", or a "glad to see you". Edward was thoroughly surprised by this. _They seem to be taking my return pretty well. I shouldn't be surprised. After all, if you've seen as much as they have, having you're comrade somehow return from another world isn't so weird anymore._

_But I still have to talk to Mustang. Al is my top priority as of now._

* * *

Mustang couldn't believe what he was seeing. Edward Elric was actually in front of him! And that was impossible! Mustang had made completely sure that the Amestrian side of the portal was closed. There was no way Edward could have possibly made it back to Amestris. _Wait, didn't he want to talk to me before? He may answer that for me. _

"Hawkeye, Fuery, Breda, Havoc! Please leave now. I need to talk to Edward." He needed to talk to Ed alone about this. His team had no place in this discussion. _Edward. How the hell did you do it?_

* * *

Ed watched as Mustang's team filed out. _I have to tell Mustang and get Al back. Nothing else matters right now. I'm sure he'll tell me how to do the favor for Truth._

Mustang spoke. "Take a seat, Edward."

"Yeah, Yeah." The Colonel was still as curt as ever.

Mustang sat at his desk and stared at Ed for a while.

"You're short, and you look like Ed. But that doesn't mean you are him."

Edward felt rage boiling up in him. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING A MIDGET YOU JERK!"

Mustang smirked. "Now that confirms it. Welcome home Fullmetal."

Ed stewed. "Nice to see you too, you bastard."

Mustang spoke again. "Edward, I have many questions to ask you. But there's one that outweighs all of them. How'd you get on this side of the portal if both sides were sealed?"

Ed hesitated to answer. _Can I trust him? Well, it's not like I have any choice. Mustang's never failed me before. I have to have faith in him._

So Edward explained everything to him. How he died. The gate. Alphonse. The deal with Truth.

At the end of it Mustang closed his eyes in thought. A long time seemed to have passed, and Ed was getting anxious. After a while, Mustang opened up his top left drawer and took an object off of a pile of papers.

Reaching over his desk, he held it out to Edward.

Edward was confused. _My State Alchemist pocket watch? What's he handing me that for? I didn't even know he had it!_

"What's this?" Ed asked.

"Your State Alchemist pocket watch, remember? I kept it for you, just in case you ever wanted to come back. Edward, you want to get Alphonse back, right?" said Mustang.

Ed nodded.

"Well then, I don't know of any ways of getting Al back, but maybe if you looked in the State library you might find something."

Ed didn't know where this was going. "But….only State Alchemists and high ranking officials are allowed in there. How am I going to get access to that kind of information?"

Mustang smiled. "Edward Elric. If you rejoin the military as a State Alchemist, you may be able to find a way to get your brother back. Besides, I think we need good people like you. All you have to do is take your pocket watch back. I can't make you do anything. This is your decision to make. What will you do?"

_I see now_, Ed thought. _Alright Mustang. I'll do it. For Al._

Ed grasped the silver pocket watch from Mustang's hand. "I'll do it."

Mustang laughed. "Welcome back, Fullmetal."

Ed smirked. "Just because I'm back in the military now doesn't mean I'm gonna follow protocol, chief."

"I wouldn't expect anything else from you, Elric. Now, we'd better get you to your hotel where you'll be staying. You'll receive your orders tomorrow morning."

Ed sighed. _This is gonna be interesting._


	8. Chapter 8

**:3 Chapter 8 already! Yay! **

Chapter 8:

Emma was chasing a thief around Central. _Geez. I can't believe this actually becomes State Alchemist work. We're supposed to doing other things, not stopping petty criminals like this idiot I'm chasing._

The girl had gotten her State Alchemist license a year ago, in the hopes of accessing information that was restricted to the public. _Yeah, I got information alright. But I what I didn't get and what I probably never will is some damn respect. I don't have time to be doing police work._

Suddenly, she realized the thief was nowhere in sigh. "Damn, I lost him. Now I gonna have to face the Colonel on the phone."

As reluctant as she was, she went over to a pay phone and called the Colonel.

"Hello Emma. Did you catch the thief?"

She sighed. "No, I lost him. What's my punishment this time?"

What the Colonel said surprised her.

"Nothing. I need you to come to my office right now. There's someone I'd like you to meet, and something I'd like you to do."

"Y—yes sir, right away." She quickly hung up the phone.

_What could the Colonel want me to do? Who am I gonna meet? And why didn't he punish me? I mean, I swear he does it just to see me cringe! There's no way he'd pass up a chance to see me get down on my knees and beg for forgiveness. What's so important that he'd miss that?_

* * *

Ed was anxious. He looked at Mustang.

"So, this other State Alchemist, she knows a lot about The Gate and how it works?"

Mustang nodded.

"Yes."

"So what's her state name?"

"They call her the Phoenix alchemist."

_The Phoenix alchemist, huh? That's an unusual name. Then again, my state name is "Fullmetal", Edward thought._

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Mustang called.

To Edward's surprise, a girl came in. She had dark hair and gray eyes. At first glance, her eyes seemed dull and lifeless, but after looking again there seemed to be a strange depth to them.

Is she…no…..she couldn't be the State Alchemist Mustang was talking about. There was no way she could be.

The girl turned to Ed. "Lt. Hawkeye filled me in downstairs. You must be Edward Elric, the Fullmetal alchemist. I'm Emma. Around here they call me the Phoenix alchemist. It's a pleasure."

Emma extended her hand to Ed.

Edward shook it. "Same to you. I know my name is Edward, but you can call me Ed. I guess we'll be working together from now on, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess. Well I have some work to do now." she replied. Turning to Mustang now, she asked, "So you want both of us to meet you in your office later, right?"

"That is correct." he said.

"Did Mustang fill you in on…em….my situation?" Ed asked Emma.

"No, not the Colonel, but after he filled in his team they told me everything."

"Well, I gotta go now. I have work to do, and a criminal to catch."

And with that the girl walked out of the room and closed the door.

Turning to Mustang, Ed asked, "So, why is her state name….the Phoenix?"

Mustang thought about this for a while before answering.

"Well, I suppose it's because of her ability to rise from defeat time and time again. Like a phoenix."

Ed was very confused.

"But Colonel, what is the reason for her name?"

Mustang's gaze darkened.

"She is your new partner, after all. I think you should ask her yourself. I don't think I'm the best person to answer that question for you anyway."

"Oh."

Suddenly, Ed remembered something else.

"Colonel, can I visit Winry and Granny?"

"No." said Mustang.

"But why _not?" _said a disappointed Ed.

"I'll only let you go if you have to. As you know well, your previous travels put many of your loved ones at risk. Do you really want to put them in harm's way again?"

Ed realized that Mustang was right. He couldn't bear to put the people he loved in danger for the sake of his own selfish gain.

_But I'd do anything for Al._

Edward suddenly felt a wave of fatigue wash over him. _I need rest. I'm sure I'll feel much better tomorrow morning._

And with that, Edward returned to his hotel room and fell asleep.

* * *

Ed was standing in Mustang's office. _How'd I get here?_

Confused, Ed tried to walk around. But he couldn't move. He looked frantically down at his legs.

_What the hell is this? Move!_

He looked up abruptly to find Winry and Granny in front of him.

"Winry? Granny? What're you doing here?"

As soon as he said that, Winry and Granny had disappeared. Instead, they were replaced by Ed's alchemy teacher, Izumi Curtis.

"Teacher? What? Where are Granny and Winry?"

Once again, Teacher disappeared and was replaced by Alphonse and Ed's mother.

Ed's eyes widened. "Wha—wha—mm-Mom? Al? What the hell is….going on? Why can't I move! Help! Please!"

Suddenly, he heard voices all around him. They kept saying the same thing over and over.

"Ed, you failed. Ed, you failed. Ed, you failed…"

Ed's eyes welled up with tears. "I—I'm so sorry! Please forgive me! I'm so sorry…Mom, Alphonse, please!"

Out of nowhere, he found grotesque things clawing at his automail arm and leg. The things' faces morphed into those of his friends and family.

This time they chanted something different.

"This is your punishment…."

He screamed and tore his gaze away from the things, but now he was standing in a dark tunnel. The shadows were like quicksand, pulling him down towards the creatures. At the end of it was a light. He saw Al and his mom walking down the tunnel, towards the light.

"No, don't leave me here! Mom! Al! Come back! I'm sorry I couldn't save you….please….please don't leave me here all alone! Get them off of me!"

But his mother and Al couldn't hear him over the echo of voices in the tunnel.

Ed sat up quickly. He found he was in his hotel room on his bed, and cold sweat running down his forehead. He sighed with relief.

_It was just a dream. Heh._

Eventually, Ed managed to calm his breathing and lay back down. Even if it was a dream that woke him up, it still bothered him. He flexed his automail arm and tried to go back to sleep, but could not, because he was afraid he might have the dream again.


End file.
